Richard Cohen

Making History (eBook, ePUB)

The Storytellers Who Shaped the Past

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A "supremely entertaining" (The New Yorker) exploration of who gets to record the world's historyfrom Julius Caesar to William Shakespeare to Ken Burnsand how their biases influence our understanding about the past. There are many stories we can spin about previous ages, but which accounts get told? And by whom? Is there even such a thing as "objective" history? In this "witty, wise, and elegant" (The Spectator), book, Richard Cohen reveals how professional historians and other equally significant witnesses, such as the writers of the Bible, novelists, and political propagandists, influence what becomes the accepted record. Cohen argues, for example, that some historians are practitioners of "Bad History" and twist reality to glorify themselves or their country. "Scholarly, lively, quotable, up-to-date, and fun" (Hilary Mantel, author of the bestselling Thomas Cromwell trilogy), Making History investigates the published works and private utterances of our greatest chroniclers to discover the agendas that informed theirand ourviews of the world. From the origins of history writing, when such an activity itself seemed revolutionary, through to television and the digital age, Cohen brings captivating figures to vivid light, from Thucydides and Tacitus to Voltaire and Gibbon, Winston Churchill and Henry Louis Gates. Rich in complex truths and surprising anecdotes, the result is a revealing exploration of both the aims and art of history-making, one that will lead us to rethink how we learn about our past and about ourselves.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Simon + Schuster LLC
• Seitenzahl: 784
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. April 2022
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781982195809
• Artikelnr.: 62169876

Autorenporträt

Richard Cohen is the author of Chasing the Sun, How to Write Like Tolstoy and By the Sword. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and for two years was programme director of the Cheltenham Festival of Literature. Five times UK national sabre champion, he was selected for the British Olympic fencing team. He lives in New York.